Pakistan Braces for Violence After Execution of Governor’s Killer

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Protests broke out hours after Pakistan executed Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, who had killed a governor over a call to reform a blasphemy law in 2011.Published OnFeb. 29, 2016CreditImage by Aamir Qureshi/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The authorities in Pakistan were bracing for the possibility of violence and escalating protests on Monday after the execution of the man who killed Salmaan Taseer, a governor who had campaigned for changes in the country’s blasphemy laws.

Mr. Taseer’s assassin, Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, was hanged at 4:30 a.m. on Monday at the Adiala Jail, a high-security prison in Rawalpindi, adjacent to Islamabad, the capital. Security forces were put on alert in major cities across the country.

Mr. Taseer was a crusading secular politician and governor of Punjab Province at the time of his assassination, campaigning for changes in the blasphemy laws, which he, like other critics, said had been used to persecute religious minorities. For a large section of Pakistani society, the mere suggestion of changing the laws amounts to a capital crime.

Mr. Qadri was an elite police guard in Mr. Taseer’s security detail when he gunned down the governor in January 2011, shooting him 27 times in the back. He confessed to the authorities immediately and proudly, suggesting that he had killed Mr. Taseer specifically because of the governor’s stance on blasphemy. Mr. Qadri was sentenced to death that year and filed an appeal.

Still, he remained a hero to his supporters and was showered with rose petals and garlands during some of his court appearances. While in prison, Mr. Qadri was reported to have lived comfortably, and visits to his cell became a kind of religious pilgrimage for some. A new mosque in Islamabad was dedicated to him.

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The body of Mr. Qadri, who was hanged at 4:30 a.m. on Monday at the Adiala Jail, a high-security prison in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.CreditT. Mughal/European Pressphoto Agency

In recent years, he maintained a kind of privileged status within the prison population, and was said to have managed in 2014 to persuade a security guard to shoot another prisoner who was accused of blasphemy. The man was wounded but survived.

In October 2015, the Supreme Court upheld his death sentence, and last week, a request for mercy he had made to President Mamnoon Hussain was rejected.

After Mr. Qadri was hanged, supporters began gathering to view his body at his home in Rawalpindi. By early afternoon, the expressway connecting Islamabad and Rawalpindi was blocked by protests.

In the eastern city of Lahore, large police contingents were deployed to thwart demonstrations. Some markets had closed in the southwestern city of Karachi, where religious groups have a sizable presence, and the police had been sent to others. Protests were also reported in smaller cities.

Media coverage of the demonstrations, however, was muted. The government, through a regulatory body, pressured local television news networks not to broadcast footage of protests. And the evening talks shows, which ordinarily thrive on political controversy, refrained from focused discussion of Mr. Qadri’s execution.

Pakistani officials’ concerns about the potential for violence grew as Mr. Hussain considered Mr. Qadri’s mercy request. In late February, security was bolstered for the president, and some members of his family were moved from his home city, Karachi, to the official presidential residence in Islamabad. Last week, two drivers in his convoy were taken into custody in Lahore after they were found to be driving slower than the standard speed, in violation of security rules.

On Monday, as Mr. Qadri’s body was brought to his home, the narrow streets of the neighborhood were filled with people chanting “Long live the martyr Mumtaz Qadri.” Religious parties announced plans to hold funeral prayer services on Tuesday afternoon in Rawalpindi and urged all “lovers of the prophet” to attend the funeral. Officials said that the potential for violence on Tuesday was high.

Religious leaders also warned of protests ahead. “We will not digest this step of the government,” said Raghib Naeemi, a prominent cleric based in Lahore.

Raza Rumi, a member of the visiting faculty at Ithaca College in New York and a consulting editor of The Friday Times, a Pakistani weekly, said, “The execution of Mumtaz Qadri indicates the resolve of the Pakistani state to reverse the tide of extremism that has gripped the country for decades.”

Speaking of the execution of Mr. Qadri, he added: “In a narrow sense, justice may have been delivered under the existing laws. But Pakistan’s Parliament would have to think beyond the death penalty and institute measures which inhibit the creation of people like Qadri. It is time to revisit blasphemy laws.”

There was no formal statement by Mr. Taseer’s family regarding the execution, and major political parties also refrained from issuing statements.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A10 of the New York edition with the headline: Fears of Unrest as Pakistan Executes High-Profile Killer . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe